2017 Nissan GT-R Nismo new car review

Japanese high-performance brand stomps into Australia with the ultimate expression of Godzilla.

2017 Nissan GT-R Nismo new car review

10 Feb 2017Andrew Maclean

There are beasts and there are monsters, and then there is Godzilla, the most fearsome mutant of all with the ability to annihilate anything in its path.

It was such a fitting nickname bestowed upon the Nissan Skyline GT-R back in the early 1990s after the all-wheel drive weapon demolished its racing rivals, tore up the streets as one of the fastest road cars of its generation and shattered the reputations of supercars that cost twice – even three times – as much.

The GT-R legend has continued to evolve over the last decade with the R35 model thanks to a never-ending series of incremental upgrades, but now Godzilla has taken its most crushing step forward with the race-derived, hard-core Nismo model finally stomping its way into local showrooms.

What is Nismo you might ask. Well, for starters it is Nissan's official motorsport and high-performance division, in much the same way that AMG is to Mercedes-Benz and M is BMW. It's been around since 1984 and has largely been responsible for global racing programs, including touring cars and Le Mans-type sports cars, but has more recently expanded its breadth to develop a range of specially-modified Nissan road cars that stretch the level of enhancements from the purely visual, such as stickers, stripes and alloy wheels, to wholesale mechanical and structural overhauls as it has done with the GT-R Nismo.

So, although the Nismo badge is relatively new in terms of showroom space, it doesn't lack for experience. Nor does it now lack for ambition as the GT-R is expected to be joined by a raft of other models in Australia, most likely including an upgraded 370Z coupe and quite possibly expanding over time to feature tweaked versions of the Juke and Qashqai SUVs and potentially even a toughened-up Navara ute.

Until then, the GT-R bears the brunt of forging a reputation for the brand on its own. And it's on-paper specifications suggest it can easily handle the responsibility.

With a sticker price of $299,000 (plus on-road costs), it is $110k more expensive than the basic GT-R Premium Edition and $72k more than the Track Edition that already has some elements of the Nismo model, such as its lightweight forged alloy wheels, stiffer body construction and wider front guards.

2017 Nissan GT-R Nismo. Photo: Supplied

But the range-topping GT-R has been given a bigger dose of everything; it's 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 has larger turbos and more power and torque than the standard model, producing an additional 22kW and 20Nm to increase peak outputs to 441kW and 652Nm; the adaptive suspension is three-times stiffer for extra road holding; it's body work has been amplified for better aerodynamics and improved downforce; and the cabin features a racier ambience with lightweight carbon fibre Recaro bucket seats and lashings of fake suede on the dashtop, roof lining and three-spoke steering wheel.

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Despite the weight-saving measures, the GT-R Nismo only tips the scales 21kg lighter than the Track Edition (at 1739kg) while its extra power, on the other hand, hasn't altered its claimed average fuel consumption of 11.7L/100km.

Surprisingly, after crowing about the GT-R's acceleration, top speed and Nurburgring lap time figures ever since the R35 arrived in 2008, Nissan now refuses to make mention of the Nismo's performance potential.

Instead, it let the monster machine speak for itself at the place where it earned the Godzilla nickname, Bathurst's Mount Panorama race circuit.

Before hitting the track though we ventured out of town to see what it's like in everyday conditions. The regular GT-R has never been a poster child for refinement and comfort but the latest upgrade, introduced last year, has been the most significant in this generation and focused on improving its all-round useability.

The improvements are noticeable in the Nismo model too, with the six-speed dual-clutch automatic smoother in the way it shifts when left to its own devices and much quieter too. The dash is also more modern in its design and the myriad of functions within the top-mounted multimedia screen are easier to navigate with a rotary controller on the centre console.

But the Nismo also immediately feels more purposeful than any other GT-R variant. The fake suede on the dash and steering wheel are nice, tactile touches and the bucket seats are snug in their support with only manual fore-aft adjustment and electric for the back rest. Personally, I'd like the ability to drop the cushion and sit even lower in the car and, for something with such a narrow focus and huge performance potential, it would be good to delete the back seats (which are useless anyway) and have the option of a half roll cage, as Porsche offers with its 911 GT3 and BMW does with its M4 GTS.

On the road, the suspension is so stiff that it fidgets over the slightest bump and wanders over camber changes in the road even in the softest of its three settings. It's well controlled and only the harshest potholes will crash into the cabin, but it's always busy.

The razor-sharp steering adds to that busyness as well, as it feels so precisely – and mechanically – connected to the front wheels that it constantly jiggles in your hands.

But you'd forgive all the GT-R Nismo's harshness if you were driving it to and from a racetrack where you could unleash its full potential. Because it's only there, out of the cage imposed by everyday constraints, that the extent of the its fearsome performance can be fully appreciated and experienced.

First of all, no matter what Nissan says – or actually doesn't say – the Nismo is a very, very fast car. It climbs Mountain Straight with a never-ending surge of pulling power that sees the speedo nudge past 230km/h over the hump, where it gets light enough to induce a whimper of wheelspin before it (and your stomach) compresses under brakes for the on-camber Griffins Bend that begins one of the most challenging, eye-opening stretches of tarmac in the country.

The fast and flowing run over the top of Mount Panorama not only requires skill and commitment from the nut behind the wheel, but a car that is equally as well endowed. The GT-R is one of those cars; the combination of its ultra-stiff suspension, sticky Dunlop tyres, computer-controlled all-wheel drive system and whatever downforce it can generate from the carbon fibre bits and pieces hanging off it at either end ensures it has masses of grip at any speed.

A regular GT-R is already an amazing machine in that regard, but the Nismo elevates its road holding to another level, all the while making it both more engaging and challenging to drive, giving it a definitive race car-like character and reducing the kind of digital interference that has made the R35 seem like you're driving a video game rather than a genuine sports car. It can be manhandled and thrown around a bit more than the normal GT-R, endowing it with a degree of playfulness when it dances towards its limit of adhesion.

Having said that, it also feels like a car that you could never be truly complacent with as it is so fast and heavy that if you blinked the wrong way (and had released its electronic safety nets) it could lead to a very big and very fast mistake.

All in all, the Nismo GT-R's biggest drawback is still its Nissan badge, making the value equation more questionable than a regular GT-R, especially the Track Edition which gets some of the gear already for $70k less and, more particularly, against the similarly track-focused Porsche 911 GT3 that costs around the same money.

But then again, as we stare towards the horizon of autonomous transport, the world needs more cars like the Nismo GT-R. Just like the real (albeit fictional) Godzilla, it is a genuinely scary monster. It's fast, furious and fearsome and has the power to devour tarmac like gigantic, radiation-fuelled, angry lizard. It's epic!